RoombaFrogger: Game of the Future

March 16, 2006 1:58 PM

RoombaFrogger. At SXSW, DIY hackers took an innocent Roomba, modded it and used it to play real-life Frogger on the streets of Austin.
posted by scalefree (21 comments total)

"In the end, however, the RealFrogger was irreparably injured by a passing white Ford SUV"

DAMN YOU OJ!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:07 PM on March 16, 2006

It was all fun and games until a single mother and her two children were killed when a SUV swerved to avoid the little toy.
posted by Justinian at 2:16 PM on March 16, 2006

You know, all I can think of is how funny this will be when someone swerves to avoid hitting RoombaFrogger, careens off the road and takes out the guy with the laptop on the sidewalk.... I think I just turned into my parents.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 2:16 PM on March 16, 2006

That's a great hack.
posted by mathowie at 2:24 PM on March 16, 2006

At ETech a few days before this, we did an "illegal tijuana style roomba cockfight" with Roombas controlled via Bluetooth adapters that I built. It was a lot of fun. Since iRobot released the spec on the hidden serial port on Roombas, it's become very easy to make them do whatever you want. You can even build a simple RS-232 serial cable for them.

If this sort of geekery appeals to you, check out the Roomba code libraries and other hacks I'm doing.
posted by todbot at 2:24 PM on March 16, 2006

GLC must live on!
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:26 PM on March 16, 2006

And they wonder why the robots hate us.
posted by Durhey at 2:26 PM on March 16, 2006

urm, i mean "ETech".
posted by todbot at 2:27 PM on March 16, 2006

I prefer the sharper image chimp head + roomba
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 2:33 PM on March 16, 2006

As much as it's a cute idea, the implication of an unwitting stream of traffic is an absolutely horrible situation. Shame on them for endangering innocent motorists.
posted by prostyle at 2:53 PM on March 16, 2006

Shame on them for endangering innocent motorists.

From ladyada's blog:

ps. 6th street is a ‘main drag’: at 1am, cars are driving pretty slowly to avoid all the drunk people on the street. Still, don’t try this at home.

posted by scalefree at 3:11 PM on March 16, 2006

Can they hack it to actually vacuum adequately?
posted by Eideteker at 4:05 PM on March 16, 2006

nerds!
posted by chococat at 4:11 PM on March 16, 2006

all I can think of is how funny this will be when someone swerves to avoid hitting RoombaFrogger, careens off the road and takes out the guy with the laptop on the sidewalk.

I was in Austin a few weeks ago and walked past a guy with a laptop and a big-ass St. Bernard than every girl who walked by couldn't help but stop and pet. It was like a double-affectation foul. The guy should just also have wrapped a snake around his neck and been done with it.
posted by Cyrano at 5:04 PM on March 16, 2006

More pics from the MAKE Party includig the Roomba Cockfight
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 5:57 PM on March 16, 2006

We'll never hit the Singularity at this rate.
posted by drezdn at 10:56 PM on March 16, 2006

More pics from the MAKE Party includig the Roomba Cockfight

That makes me want to cobble one together that is able to deliver a Roomba Cockpunch.

I have an extensive list of deserving honorees...
posted by Enron Hubbard at 5:11 AM on March 17, 2006

of course they do this right after i leave austin. those jerks.


i want to play.
posted by trishthedish at 9:01 AM on March 17, 2006

No wonder our Roomba's sulking at the moment (it won't do anything other than go backwards, turn round a bit and then bleep pitifully). It wants to be set free to go and play in the traffic..
posted by mpk at 10:46 AM on March 17, 2006

Justinian writes "It was all fun and games until a single mother and her two children were killed when a SUV swerved to avoid the little toy"

My thought exactly, these guys are supposed to be smart.
posted by Mitheral at 1:49 PM on March 17, 2006

It's crap like this that make me hate SXSW more and more every year. Austin becomes a playground for "The Rejects from Elsewhere."

I usually just yell at the LA Cowboys walking down the middle of the street gawking at the quaint little town, unaware that people actually use those streets for commuting and life and not to hold staged cowboy shootouts.

I can ignore the idiots in bars and restaurants for 2 weeks, but when they start doing stupid crap like this on the streets, screw it, they deserve to get their comeuppance. A smashed toy wasn't enough.

SXSW turns me into a curmudgeon. It used to be cool when it was actually a showcase for unsigned bands instead of a venue for the Beastie Boys to show off how cool they still are and for morons to play in traffic.
posted by Seamus at 6:03 PM on March 18, 2006